It is a common assumption that the use of technology in the classroom will distract students. After all, our phones are a constant source of distraction in our academic and professional lives. Today we are going to know some strategies to implement technology in the classroom so that you know how to take advantage of it.
And it is that with the transfer of most classrooms and jobs to the Internet, we are losing the opportunity to choose to omit technology in the classroom.
With technology becoming increasingly mandatory in all learning environments, it is important that you know how to get the classroom involved.
In this article, we’ll talk about a couple of student engagement tools and strategies that you can use to gamify a class and better engage people with the use of technology.
Tools to implement technology in the classroom
Every teacher‘s job is to provide students with the best possible path to success, and in the 21st century that often means implementing technology in the classroom.
As students gain more technological knowledge , it is important to combine their skills with educational tools that allow them to interact and engage with academic material.
These are some of the tools and strategies that help students get involved in the learning process:
Live surveys / online questionnaires
It is always annoying when you want to involve your class but the interaction does not exist. QuestionPro LivePolls lets you create interactive surveys and questionnaires so your entire class can easily participate.
Using LivePolls is incredibly useful for instructors around the world because it allows them to engage their students not just in the classroom, but from anywhere.
It is becoming increasingly important to be able to move from one learning medium to another , and LivePolls makes that flexibility possible.
Best of LivePolls? Is free. Any existing QuestionPro user or academic instructor can access and use the full features of LivePolls at no cost.
Being able to engage the whole class with an online quiz means that you can interact with your students more often and with more meaningful results.
Blackboards online
Online whiteboards are one of the best ways to implement technology in the classroom, as they provide different benefits to students operating remotely or in person.
Online whiteboards allow students to take an active part in their education , and allow them to collaborate with the entire class in the same shared space.
This means that whether your class is online or face-to-face, you have the ability to build powerful collaboration with teams of any size.
Online whiteboards also help students participate in class because they have a sense of permanence that regular classroom activities lack.
There is a permanent space for activities on the board, which means that people can focus more on the learning process rather than taking note of every little change.
Also, if students want to revisit the source material they used in class, there are online logs so they can do so instead of having to search for images and use them in the best possible way.
Strategies for implementing technology in the classroom
Now that we’ve talked about some tools that help inject technology into classrooms, let’s talk about some strategies that you can use to help those tools be successful.
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Provide consumable and attractive learning methods
Infographics are a great way to present information to students in consumable form . Instead of using paragraphs of content, consider finding a graphic that shows the same information. This adds a visual aspect to your content, something that is very effective for the learning process.
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Create collaborative learning spaces
A common barrier to collaboration in the classroom is that students feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable communicating their ideas to a larger group.
This is where tools like LivePolls or Online Whiteboards come to your aid. These tools provide relative anonymity to users , allowing more people to make meaningful contributions than would normally be possible.
Thanks to these new types of technology, you can create open and collaborative spaces to increase participation in the classroom.
One of the best parts of using technology in the classroom is your access to the Internet. These tools make it very easy to incorporate links and other important resources directly into work, allowing students to take multiple paths to achieve their learning goals.
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Offers flexible options to students
One of the greatest drivers that technology brings to the classroom is its ability to provide flexibility to students who may not fit in with traditional learning styles.
This flexibility applies to many places in the classroom, whether it be a particular engagement style, note-taking methods, or ways of viewing the class.
An example of how technology increases flexibility in the classroom is the ability to record the lesson and watch it again later.
In this way, students can fully concentrate on their activities in person and complete their notes later. This is just one example of the greater flexibility and commitment that technology brings to the classroom.
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Present tasks in a modern and interactive way
To keep students engaged in school activities, it is important to maintain a level of diversity in the tasks assigned to them.
When implementing technology in the classroom, it is important that, as an instructor, you give them assignments that correspond to the platforms they are using.
This means having students create their own blogs instead of writing a paper, or creating interactive video projects instead of using Power Point.
Replacing the old means of interaction makes students more enthusiastic about performing these tasks, while integrating the technology they are used to.
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Use interactive methods when implementing technology in the classroom
The new technology is extremely interactive for any platform, and when used in the classroom it should be no different.
Implementing classroom technology like QuestionPro LivePolls allows instructors to take full advantage of the interactive nature of technology by implementing online surveys for the entire class to respond to.
This brings a certain bond that may traditionally be lacking in the classroom and helps to ensure the attention of each student. LivePolls is a great example of how technology can help drive engagement in the classroom, whether online or in person.
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Offers hybrid distance and face-to-face classes
This might be difficult for students who attend school before college because their programs are much more structured, but for college students it could be very helpful to participate in a hybrid program of remote and physical classes.
Giving students some distance and face-to-face classes means that they can participate better when they meet in a traditional setting thanks to the separation of classes.
This also provides students with the flexibility to attend from different locations, something that has been done as a massive advantage of the online school.
Conclusion
Implementing technology in the classroom brings great benefits, especially now that we have confirmed that the school can fully function online, it is a reality that cannot wait any longer.
